4XLT

It’s been an ugly two weeks. Though back in the game with weight training and cardio, I’m still stuck in a major plateau in the mid 330s. I last hit a major wall like this in the spring, and it lasted for a few weeks, too.

The gym element is going well, and my water intake is getting better, so the only suspect I have to look at right now is my nutrition. I start my new job in less than a week, and with that new job comes the first stable, decent income I’ve ever earned (working in the nonprofit / Christian ministry world didn’t earn me the big bucks, or really, small bucks, either).

Now that I won’t be living hand to mouth, I have the chance to actually buy good, healthy food and even indulge in supplements.

Thus Far

My nutritional plan for weight loss has been pretty basic: 2500 calories a day broken evenly over five meals. I’ve even tried to track my food with a nutrition log. But in all reality, I haven’t had any kind of real, substantial plan to attack my nutrition with like the thought out plans I’ve had for my weight training and cardio.

I leave myself open for crappy eating because I don’t have a plan. Instead of being proactive about what I will eat, I’m reactive.

So, it’s time to take my very elementary meal plan, give it some tweaks, and crank it up another notch for the next round of highly focused weight loss, what I’m calling my “14 Weeks of Hell” (leading to my sister’s wedding in December).

To take my nutrition (and fat loss) to the next level, I need your help. I’m going to describe my nutrition goals and plan, and then I’ll ask for your help in developing a meal plan and other answers to other mysteries of life.

The Plan

The goal of my nutritional plan is to help me loose fat (and not muscle). Lots of fat. I’m a hundred down so far, and have at least another hundred to go. So, I’ll be operating in a caloric deficit of approximately 20% below my daily energy expenditure (DEE).

I was going to adapt the “Carb Cycling Codex” by Christian Thibaudeau. However, several guys have said that carb cycling isn’t the best choice for me right now because my body fat is still high.

However, what he writes there (and in other articles at T-Nation) still have some strong points that I will build from.

I plan on doing some modifications and simplifications to the basic nutritional guidelines given in Thib’s program (before he begins factoring in the carb cycling) in order to make my transition into a full fledged meal plan successful both now and for the long term.

I’ve got enough going on with my life that crunching a lot of numbers and counting days and over-analyzing macronutrients is going to be way too much for me.

My major adjustments are: (1) Use a two day carb cycle (higher and lower) rather than the three day split (high, medium, and low carb days) listed in the article. Higher carbohydrates go with days I lift to give me the energy to work hard. (Since I’ve had carb cycling recommended against right now, I’m not sure what to do here. Part of me wants to incorporate some model of higher calories / carbs on lifting days, but I’m not sure…)

(2) Simplify the daily meal plan. Thib gives three examples based on workout times. Each has six meals daily with varying makeups to each meal. With the exceptions of the two midday meals, every meal is different in macronutrient composition.

In an effort to make my personal work with a meal plan successful and implementable, I am going to be making some changes in the number of meals and their composition:

Meal 1 (Waking Up) Carbs and protein
Meal 2 (10:30am) Carbs and protein
Meal 3 (2:00pm) Protein, fat, green veggies
Meal 4 (5:00pm) Workout / post-workout nutrition (carbs and protein)
Meal 5 (8:00pm) Protein, fat, green veggies

As you can see, I’ve standardized my meal setups into two categories (discounting the workout nutrition): carbs and no carbs. As has been recommended numerous times, I’ll only be eating carbs in the mornings and during my workout / immediately after it (I’m in the gym every day – weight training, HIIT, or just occasionally jogging on the elliptical).

My goal is to build up to a handful of easy to prepare recopies that I can quickly make and have stocked and ready to go. Having a smaller number of variables makes meals easier to standardize, and thereby making the plan easier to stick with in the long term.

Mike Roussell’s article “Preparing for Battle” was a really good intro to the practical side of all of this.

I want to implement a base macronutrient ratio of 40% carbs, 40% proteins, and 20% fats. Balanced nutrition – enough said. I like the appeal of low carb diets for their miracle working fat loss powers, but I like the idea of being able to sustain this plan over the long haul even more. And really, that’s what this is all about for me: transforming my life from the 440 pound fatso to someone lean, strong, and healthy.

Daily Caloric Goals & Carb Cycling

I’m using the Harris-Benedict formula to determine my basal metabolic rate:

66 + (13.7 * (weight in kg)) + (5 * (height in cm)) – (6.8 * 25)

Looking at the activity level chart in Thib’s article, I would multiply the BMR rate by 1.4 “Light” or 1.6 “Moderate” for my lifting days. If I was to use my current weight (335), with the BMR formula and then apply the activity level multipliers and then the 20% caloric defect, I get some ludicrously high numbers: 3300 and 3775, respectively.

There’s absolutely no way that can be right, but I’m at an impasse of how to correctly calculate what my daily caloric intake should be from a nutritional / physiological / scientific standpoint. Everything I’ve done up until this point has been simple guesswork.

If I try and calculate my macronutrient ratio based on body weight (instead of caloric ratios), the numbers get wonky again. If I set my protein goal at 1.25g/pound and carbs at 1.25g/pound, that already puts me at almost 3700 calories. I’m already over my daily limit on the light activity day and close to my moderate activity day – and that’s before I’ve added any fats to my diet!

I’m really at a loss of what the best way to sort this out would be. Should I just set a semi-arbitrary pair of caloric goals and/or decide on an “ideal” body weight and then work backwards?

Workout Nutrition

Here’s an area that’s absolutely new and foreign to me: workout nutrition. As I mentioned in the beginning of this, I’ve been in the po’ house the past few years, including the last eight months of my lifestyle change.

There simply hasn’t been money in the budget for shakes and supplements, so I’ve tried to make due by eating protein as quick as I can after my workouts. Now, I’ll be looking into a during and post-workout shake full of carbs and protein to act as my fourth meal of the day.

T-Nation advertises Surge Surge a lot. That may be an option, but I’m wide open.

My Questions For You

Knowing all of this on a theoretical and academic level is just fine and dandy, but I need some help actually implementing my plan in the form of creating meal choices.

1. Number Crunching: I’m no longer technically obese, but that doesn’t matter. I’m still a big, fat guy with a long way to go. So, I’m at a loss of how to calculate my BMR, calorie goals, and amounts of macronutrients. Simply plugging in my weight of 335 doesn’t seem to make sense to me, as the numbers just end up being ridiculously high! Should I just pick a lower number to crunch numbers with?

2.Meal plans & recipes: I’m not much of a chef, but I’m learning. So, I can use anything and everything you guys have got about meal plans (and yes, I’m reading all the stuff I can find on T-Nation). I’m going to be pre-purchasing my food and prepping it a few days in advance according to my plan. This way, I can just toss it into the microwave and be good to go in a few minutes, as I hate spending 20 minutes to cook unless it’s grilling on a Sunday while watching the NFL!

3.Pre/post-workout Nutrition: Now with a decently paying job, I can afford to think about supplements and the like. I have yet to do much research, but as long as I’m writing this post, I’d be happy to hear your recommendations.